Bottle receiver



p 2, 1 42 A. c. KOHL ETAL 2,296,444

BOTTLE RECEIVER Filed Oct. 28, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 22, 1942.

v Filed Oct. 28, 1940 A. C. KOHL ET AL BOTTLE RECEIVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

Patented Sept. 22, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE BOTTLE RECEIVER Alfred C. Kohl, Marshfield, and Philip F.,Kohl', M'osinee, Wis.

ApplicationOctaberZS, 1940, Serialv Nb. 363,078.

6 Claims.

to provide a device. whereby bottles may be readily removed from. a point of congestion and accumulated at another point where they can be later sorted and disposed of.

Another object of the invention is the production of such a device which is simple in construction and which handles the bottles without breakage.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon.

understanding the preferred embodiment thereof disclosed in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the drawings are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of. the invention as it is defined in the appended claims as modificationsmay be made in the form, material employed inconstruction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

With respect to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is aplan view of the device;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the device consists of a bottle-receiving member H) which may project from a wall or floor H and to which is attached a conduit l2 which provides a passageway for bottles. The shape of the receiving member is shown as funnel-shaped for purposes of illustration but this shape may be modified to have a more aesthetic appearance. The conduit 12 may be a rubber tube of sufficient diameter to receive the bottles or a flexible metal tube or even a rigid conduit.

The conduit [2 has attached at the lower end thereofv a. trough portion [3 which continues the passageway for the bottles after they leave the conduit. In the drawings the conduit [2 is shown broken away from the trough I3 to indicate that either the trough or the conduit may be of considerably greater length in relation to the other than is indicated in the drawings.

The trough i3 is preferably rigidly mounted: by means of a. supporting member M which may be secured to the frame-of the bottle. distributing portion of the device, as indicated at Ma. Fur-- ther support for the trough i3 is. obtained through means of a strap Mb, the strap Mb being attached to some rigid. member such asaportion. of a building. Of course, additional? straps or supports may be employed for the pur pose of rigidly securingthe trough 1.3..

An advantage. of employingv anopentrough is that it is easy to clean and makes readily accessible the interior of the closed conduit I2 for cleaning. purposes.

A bumper head [5 is provided-at the end of the: trough member 13.. The bumper head [5 comprises ahousing member which is preterably separated from the trough l3 which is. somountedthat it may oscillate and provide a resilient shock-absorbing means for the bottles, as

they leave the trough l3.

The mounting means for the bumper head i5- consists. of a pair of rollers l6. and It'd;- respectively; that are secured by U-shaped members I1: and Na to the top of the bumper head I5. The rollers Hi and [5a ride upon the supporting member I4 and permit the bumper head to-oscillate and. move lengthwise of the support M2 A spring member f8 yieldingly urges the bumper headtoward the: trough, the spring member being connected tothe bumperhead and toa-tensi'on-adjusting member [9 which member I9 ismounted on the supporting member I4 and is adjustable to vary the tension of thespring.

Anadjustable stop 20 is provided on the sup.- port M to limit the movement of the bumper head. I5 toward the trough I3. The bumper'head member is provided with an end member 2| op-' posite the trough [3 which is preferably constructed of composition rubber or other resilient material. 21 they bounce back from that member and will engage the opposite end member 22- of the bumper head which member 22" is preferablycushioned to absorb the shock of the bottlestriking the same. The bottle then drops downto the receiving tray 23 which is preferably conical in shape.

I-lhe center of the tray 23 may be formed from a wood block 24, the center of which block is provided with cushioning means which may be of rubber or other resilient material 25. The receiving tray 23 is supported by a framework consisting of a plurality of legs 26 attached by means of cross members 21 upon which are As the bottles strike the end member mounted annular supports 28 and 29, respectively, which engage the underside of the receiving tray 23 and the block 24 to support the receiving tray throughout its area.

It is to be noted that the cushioning member 22 of the bumper head is positioned beneath the trough [3 so as to give room at the top of the bumper head I5 for entrance of bottles as they pass from the trough l3. It is also to be observed that the lower edges of the side walls of the bumper head I5 adjacent the cushioning ends 2| and 22, respectively, are cut away so as to permit bottles to freely leave the bumper head and to turn in relation to the bumper head as they drop on to the receiving tray.

In the operation of the device the bottles are deposited in the receiving member [0, pass downwardly through the conduit l2 and trough [3 to the bumper head l5 which absorbs the shock of the bottles striking the head both through the resilient mounting of the bumper head and the cushioning means 2| and 22. As a bottle strikes the bumper head, the bumper head tends to oscillate and the bottle will fall upon the apex 25 of the receiving tray 23. Due to the oscillatory movement of the bumper head the bottles will strike the apex 25 of the receiving tray in various positions and at different points on the cushioning member 25 so that the bottles will roll in various directions over the receivingtray and be substantially equally distributed around the tray. Thus practically the entire surface of the tray may be used for the accumulation of bottles.

A further advantage of resiliently mounting the bumper head is that since the mounting means absorbs part of the shock of the bottle after it enters the bumper head the bottle has no tendency to kick back into the trough and thus obstruct the passage of the next bottle, which might result in breakage. Furthermore, the absorption of the inertia of the bottle in the bumper head is so rapid that the bottles drop very quickly on to the receiving tray 23 and thus it is possible to insert bottles into the device in relatively quick succession without incurring the possibility of their jamming or breaking due to contact with one another.

The cone-shaped receiving member 23 being provided with a cushioning means at its center, the shock of the bottles fall is absorbed sufiiciently so that there is no breakage at this point; The taper of the cone of the receiving tray 23 is relatively gradual so that after the bottles drop upon the receiving tray they roll rather slowly to the periphery of the receiving tray. Thus, when the bottles come in contact with the edge of the tray or with other bottles already deposited their rate of motion is sufilciently slow so that there is no danger of breakage.

While we have shown and described the re ceiving tray as being circular, it is plain that it may be of many shapes. It is also apparent that the cushioning means at the apex of the receiving tray 23 may be made of any resilient material or other material which will not cause breakage of the bottles upon being dropped from the bumper head.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, the device is composed of relatively few parts which are economical to manufacture and in actual practice the device has been found to be extremely useful and practicable.

We claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a passageway for bottles, a bumper head resiliently mounted at the end of said passageway, said mounting means permitting said bumper head to oscillate and to move axially in relation to said passageway and a receiving tray mounted beneath said bumper head.

2. In a device of the class described, a passageway for bottles, a bumper head resiliently mounted at the end of said passageway, said mounting means permitting said bumper head to oscillate and to move axially in relation to said passageway, and a receiving tray mounted beneath said bumper head, said receiving tray having a cone-shaped central portion immediately beneath said bumper head.

3. In a device of the class described, a passageway for bottles, a bumper head mounted at the end of said passageway, said bumper head provided with shock absorber means to absorb the shock of bottles as they strike said bumper head, a second means for engaging the bottles positioned opposite said shock-absorbing means and a receiving tray mounted beneath said bumper head, said receiving tray having an apex provided with resilient means upon which the bottles drop from said bumper head.

4. In a device of the class described, a passageway for bottles, a bumper head positioned at the end of said passageway, said bumper head having a closed top and downwardly projecting ends and side portions, said side portions being cut away at the lower ends thereof, the end of said bumper head opposite said passageway being provided with resilient means and the end of said bumper head adjacent said passageway having an opening therein to permit passage of the bottles into said bumper head.

5. In a device of the class described, a passageway for bottles, a bumper head positioned at the end of said passageway, said bumper head having a closed top and downwardly projecting ends and side portions, said side portions being cut away at their lower ends, the end of said bumper head opposite said passageway being provided with resilient means and the end of said bumper head adjacent said passageway having an opening therein to permit passage of the bottles into said bumper head and projecting beneath said opening to engage the bottle after it engages said resilient means, said bumperlhead being resiliently mounted at the end of said passageway and means positioned beneath said bumper head for receiving said bottles.

6. In a device of the class described, means constituting a passageway for bottles, shock-ab- .sorbing means slidably mounted at the end'of said passageway, means for receiving bottles after engagement with said slidably mounted shockabsorbing means and resilient means for urging said slidably mounted shock-absorbing means toward the lower end of said passageway.

ALFRED C.KOHL. PHILIP F. KOHL. 

